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I-795 in North Carolina. It got resurfaced in less than 5 years after it first opened. :awesomeface:
Despite what people driving towards I-10 might think I've always found I-17 on the whole to be in pretty good condition.
Two sections of interstate come to mind from my experiences:
I-95 between exits 6 and 12 in New Jersey (NJTP) is one of the best maintained interstate highway segments in the rust belt. Even though the previous ITS system was mostly non-functional at the end of its run, the facility itself (structures and pavement) were in good repair. The highway seems to be in good condition on a consistant basis.
As far as non-tolled interstates go, I-95 through Georgia is a considerably well maintained example; given its sun belt location and heavy use by tourists, that is no surprise.
Quote from: LM117 on December 31, 2017, 05:56:21 PM
I-795 in North Carolina. It got resurfaced in less than 5 years after it first opened. :awesomeface:
I can back you up on that. The last time I was on I-795 it was smooth as a baby's behind.
Quote from: slorydn1 on January 01, 2018, 01:01:37 PM
Quote from: LM117 on December 31, 2017, 05:56:21 PM
I-795 in North Carolina. It got resurfaced in less than 5 years after it first opened. :awesomeface:
I can back you up on that. The last time I was on I-795 it was smooth as a baby's behind.
I was in Goldsboro last month and it's still a pretty nice ride. I was living in Fremont when it first opened and it started falling apart in 2008, barely a year after it opened because the asphalt was laid too thin and trucks were eating it up. While the road was being built, the contractor warned NCDOT that the asphalt was too thin and that it needed to be thicker, but NCDOT refused to pay for thicker asphalt and told the contractor to stick with the original plans. That was a huge black eye on NCDOT when they had to pay the same contractor to go back and resurface nearly the whole length of I-795 in 2010.
Quote from: LM117 on January 01, 2018, 01:22:42 PM
Quote from: slorydn1 on January 01, 2018, 01:01:37 PM
Quote from: LM117 on December 31, 2017, 05:56:21 PM
I-795 in North Carolina. It got resurfaced in less than 5 years after it first opened. :awesomeface:
I can back you up on that. The last time I was on I-795 it was smooth as a baby's behind.
I was in Goldsboro last month and it's still a pretty nice ride. I was living in Fremont when it first opened and it started falling apart in 2008, barely a year after it opened because the asphalt was laid too thin and trucks were eating it up. While the road was being built, the contractor warned NCDOT that the asphalt was too thin and that it needed to be thicker, but NCDOT refused to pay for thicker asphalt and told the contractor to stick with the original plans. That was a huge black eye on NCDOT when they had to pay the same contractor to go back and resurface nearly the whole length of I-795 in 2010.
When I went through there the last time right around Memorial Day 2016 it was still really smooth. I am so used to I-95 and I-40 and the rough rides on sections of both of them that I ended up going faster than I wanted to because I wasn't getting that sensation of going fast like I do on the other 2.
The only freeway I have been on thats smoother is the new Goldsboro Bypass and even there there are a couple spots at bridge exapansion joints that will bounce you a bit if you aren't ready for it.
I-95 (formerly referred to as the New Hampshire Turnpike and sometimes Blue Star Turnpike) from the Massachusetts border to the Piscataqua River Bridge is only a little over 16 miles long, but IMO it wins this discussion hands-down. Certainly the best-maintained Interstate I have driven on.
In general, toll roads ought to be in better shape than "free" roads in most states, and they usually are.
Maryland, New York (NYSTA), New Jersey (NJTA) and Ohio all keep their toll roads generally in nice shape.
The I-70 part of the Kansas Turnpike is very well-maintained but there are places where its pre-Interstate design shows. "Free" I-70 in Kansas is overall very well-maintained too.
Around here probably I-675 it was just rebuilt about 8 years ago.
SAMSUNG-SM-J727A
Portland area: I-5/I-205 in Clark County when it's more than 1/2 mile north of Oregon.
I have no complaints about the thruway. The stretch from I-490 to Batavia got bad a few years back, but is in excellent condition now.
The only other poorly-maintained stretch is through the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation south of Buffalo, but that is an acceptable exception, IMO, given the political background. Other than that, considering the winter weather and heavy traffic year round, the thruway is extremely well maintained and fun to drive during non-peak travel periods.
Quote from: webny99 on January 04, 2018, 12:20:30 PM
I have no complaints about the thruway. The stretch from I-490 to Batavia got bad a few years back, but is in excellent condition now.
The only other poorly-maintained stretch is through the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation south of Buffalo, but that is an acceptable exception, IMO, given the political background. Other than that, considering the winter weather and heavy traffic year round, the thruway is extremely well maintained and fun to drive during non-peak travel periods.
I also second the mainline NY Thruway I-90/87. Although there was a 75 car accident on it the other day it was cleared up after a while and probably didn't have anything to do with a lack of plowing. These roads get hammered over the winter yet are still comfortable to drive on year round. The Cattaraugus thing is the only issue with the Thruway from what I can tell.
Quote from: Flint1979 on January 03, 2018, 02:21:32 PM
Around here probably I-675 it was just rebuilt about 8 years ago.
I interpreted the topic as meaning,
What is the Interstate that gets the most frequent maintenance, such that it is consistently in good condition?
Quote from: kphoger on January 05, 2018, 01:43:39 PM
Quote from: Flint1979 on January 03, 2018, 02:21:32 PM
Around here probably I-675 it was just rebuilt about 8 years ago.
I interpreted the topic as meaning, What is the Interstate that gets the most frequent maintenance, such that it is consistently in good condition?
+1
Long term good condition, as opposed to short term/current good condition, was my understanding as well (not that the OP expounded :-D).
Of course, that doesn't
necessarily exclude I-675.
I-75 gets a lot of maintenance but is also heavily traveled.
Currently in the Detroit area I-75 is closed SB between milemarker's 45 and 37 and is being widened from six to eight lanes in Oakland County.
The Zilwaukee Bridge in Zilwaukee always seems to have to be shut down for several weeks every 5 or so years for maintenance. I-75 traffic uses I-675 when that happens.
Around these parts, I-280 between CA 85 and CA 92 seems to be in the consistently best condition of any Interstate freeway in the area; that's been the case for quite some time. However, as far as fully new pavement is concerned, right now I-580 is being reconstructed from Livermore east to the I-205 junction; the original concrete pavement, dating from the '70's, was arguably the most atrocious in the whole region. I-880 from US 101 up into Fremont has relatively new pavement, but it's starting to see the effects of nearly 24/7 heavy traffic. But the section of I-280 previously mentioned is fortunate in that much of the very heavy commute traffic dissipates north of CA 85, and it seems that most commercial traffic stays on US 101; truck traffic appears to make up less of the total volume on I-280 than most other area freeways, Interstate or not.
If by most maintenance is loosely defined by constantly working on it, then I-45 gulf freeway wins hands down. If they mean finished and smooth driving, its in dead last place.
Probably something in a strictly warm climate with no freeze-thaw cycles. I'm gonna guess that it's I-8 or I-19 or something.
Quote from: paulthemapguy on January 08, 2018, 09:38:52 AM
Probably something in a strictly warm climate with no freeze-thaw cycles. I'm gonna guess that it's I-8 or I-19 or something.
I think that the overall condition would be a combination of weather (lack of snow/plowing + lack of rapid temperature changes)
and either overall usage or proportion of heavy trucks. Something like I-15 from I-10 to I-40 would potentially display the worst of those worlds -- the occasional weather-related issues over Cajon Pass, plus a combination of daily commuter traffic (at least as far out as Victorville), weekend hordes heading to/from Vegas, and heavy truck usage. Past the I-15/I-40 split at Barstow, the commute aspect on I-15 would be certainly lost, but the recreational traffic weekly pounding would require regular repaving efforts; on I-40 -- again, no commuters out here -- but a lot of truck usage, which would also require repaving -- although possibly on a more lax schedule than I-15. I would guess that the best-maintained interstate segments might be those in the Southwest that are distant enough from metro areas to avoid heavy commuter usage, don't have regularly severe weather, and aren't part of a cross-country truck corridor (such as I-40) -- and
which were competently constructed to begin with! My guesses of qualifying segments would be I-17 starting at least 35 miles north of central Phoenix, I-25 between Hatch and Socorro, and I-8 from Gila Bend to I-10; if anyone has experience otherwise, please speak up.
BTW, I-8 over the top of the mountains east of San Diego experiences pretty regular winter snow, particularly in El Nino years.
I-30 used to be among the worst but now it seems to be among the best. The Red River crossing job is all done except the cleanup, so it's a smooth ride all the way through. (Until they start work on six-laning the Sevier Street to US 70 segment.)
Interstate 14 is a pretty smooth road.
The Illinois Tollway (in general) has better-maintained roads than at IDOT... nice, wide, and smooth!!
I-85 through central NC (salisbury, high point, greensboro) is now exceptionally smooth and 8 lanes across. Lots of work and a bridge relocation has been done over the past 10-15 years and it really shows.
I-24 in Tennessee